Gambling case in jury's hands; deliberations resume Thursday

Wednesday

Feb 29, 2012 at 1:47 PMFeb 29, 2012 at 4:53 PM

MONTGOMERY — Jurors in Alabama’s gambling corruption trial will begin their first full day of deliberations Thursday after hearing defense attorneys for casino owner Milton McGregor tell them the case reeks of political and racial motivation by Republicans trying to stop Democrats and one of their traditional campaign contributors.

By PHILLIP RAWLSAssociated Press

MONTGOMERY — Jurors in Alabama’s gambling corruption trial will begin their first full day of deliberations Thursday after hearing defense attorneys for casino owner Milton McGregor tell them the case reeks of political and racial motivation by Republicans trying to stop Democrats and one of their traditional campaign contributors.“Not a single soul in this case is guilty,” defense attorney Joe Espy told the jury Wednesday. Lead prosecutor Kendall Day urged jurors to consider the evidence against the six defendants and not be distracted by race or politics. “It’s time for you to tell these defendants the government in Alabama is not for sale,” he said.Defense lawyers and prosecutors wrapped up two days of closing arguments Wednesday. The judge sent the case to the sequestered jury at lunch time, but not before telling jurors not to let their verdict be motivated by a desire to change Alabama politics. “That is not the purpose of a trial such as this,” U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson told the mostly female and black jury. Before the jury could begin serious deliberations, a juror went to a previously arranged appointment with the judge’s approval. The other jurors couldn’t deliberate without the full panel and left for their hotel shortly after 3 p.m. Court officials said the jury will resume work at 8 a.m. Thursday.McGregor is accused of conspiring with state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, former Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt, casino lobbyist Tom Coker and casino spokesman Jay Walker to buy and sell lawmakers’ votes for legislation to protect electronic bingo casinos from a state crackdown. Prosecutors said they did it with the promise of millions in campaign contributions and other support for the 2010 elections.Espy accused Republican Gov. Bob Riley of creating a gambling task force to shut down McGregor’s VictoryLand casino in Shorter in January 2010 because McGregor traditionally contributed to Democratic candidates.“This case reeks of political motivation,” he said.Espy said the federal government’s investigation of vote buying began when two other Republicans, state Sen. Scott Beason and former Rep. Benjamin Lewis, went to the FBI with complaints. He said meetings recorded by Beason at the request of the FBI captured Beason, Lewis and other Republicans talking about how killing the gambling bill would suppress African-American turnout in the 2010 general election and help Republican candidates.McGregor was pushing a pro-gambling bill that would have been on the general election ballot for voter approval if the Legislature passed it. The bill died in the House after the FBI announced its investigation.“Beason, Lewis and Riley accomplished what they wanted,” Espy said.“They wanted to raise Republicans to the top and bring the Democrats down and destroy them,” defense attorney Walter McGowan said.In the November 2010 election, Republicans won every statewide race and won a majority in the Legislature for the first time in 136 years.Country Crossing casino developer Ronnie Gilley; two of his lobbyists, Jennifer Pouncy and Jarrod Massey; and former Democratic Rep. Terry Spicer have pleaded guilty in the case. Gilley and Pouncy testified for the prosecution.McGregor’s defense attorneys reminded jurors that in one of Gilley’s recorded phone calls, he laughed at his sister-in-law’s use of a racial slur. The defense also noted that one of the meetings recorded by Beason for the FBI caught him referring to blacks as “aborigines” and another Republican legislator talking about black voters riding to the polls on “HUD buses.” They said that shows the character of the people behind the grovernment’s case.“They have embraced crooks and racists and political motivators,” Espy said.The prosecutor acknowledged the comments. “I’m sorry, racism exists in Alabama,” Day said.He accused the defense of using the remarks to distract jurors. “They are hoping you will be so offended by these remarks you will ignore the evidence,” he said.He said the evidence was laid out in wiretapped phone calls, tape-recorded meetings and Pouncy’s and Gilley’s testimony about working with the defendants to buy votes with campaign contributions.He replayed one tape where McGregor and Gilley met with Beason. McGregor told the senator he needed some new friends as supporters for the 2010 election because he had made some Republicans angry. Then he told Beason, “Ronnie and I have a bad habit of supporting our friends.”The trial is the second in the case. The first trial ended in August with no convictions. Two defendants were acquitted and the jury was unable to decide all charges against the remaining defendants.

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